1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a search engine system, and more particularly, to a customer support search engine system which is used with a Web server for effecting customer service on a customer's computer using the Internet and providing technical information on the customer's computer for the customer, and a method of searching data using the search engine system.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a customer requests customer service when defects occur in a purchased product while its being used, or when they have something to ask. Then, a service person from a service center or an external service employee visits the customer to solve his problem.
Accordingly, trouble can occur since even a simple problem must be solved by the service person's visiting the customer in person. Also, such a personal visit impedes rapid customer service, and labor costs to the service person or external service employee must be paid. In particular, when customer service is needed for a computer, development engineers are often requested to provide such a repair service by telephone since the customer service person cannot always solve computer problems.
Therefore, establishment of a rapid service system and curtailment of customer service expenses appear as significantly important matters to marketing companies selling products, in association with an increasing market quality issue.
A customer support system using the Internet includes a customer support server connected to the Internet via an Internet host, and a user's computer which can be connected to the customer support server via the Internet using an Internet communications unit such as a modem.
The user's computer, which may be a PC which can be connected to the Internet using a typical Internet connecting device, such as a modem or a leased circuit, can receive necessary customer service by connecting to the customer support server via the Internet. The customer support server adopts a computer as a server which includes a customer support engine for providing customer support service and a data base for systematically storing PC related information required by the customer support engine. The customer support engine includes software for customer support and consists of a gate page which corresponds to a homepage, a user's guide page, a download page, an FAQ page and a Windows 95 page.
In the customer support system using the Internet and having such a configuration, when the user's computer wants to search for desired data through the customer support server, if a search engine system for performing the above search is provided, customer support can be more effectively performed. The search engine system must be able to provide useful information more rapidly when it is convenient for a customer to use the information.
The following patents disclose some features in common with the present invention: U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,667 to Wahlquist et al., entitled System For Performing Remote Computer System Diagnostic Tests, U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,559 to Hobson et al., entitled On-Line Help Method And System Utilizing Free Text Query, U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,314 to Gifford et al., entitled Computer-Aided Customer Support System With Bubble-Up, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,086 to Tanaka et al., entitled Method And System Of Hierarchical Assistance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,002 to Fawcett et al., entitled System And Method For Providing Automated Customer Support, U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,695 to Derr et al., entitled Problem Analysis Of A Node Computer With Assistance From A Central Site, U.S. Pat. No. 5,745,675 to Herbig et al., entitled Object Oriented Framework Mechanism For Performing Computer System Diagnostics, U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,150 to Yamada, entitled Apparatus For Producing Operational Manual, U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,498 to Abe et al., entitled Post-Delivery Support System For Private Branch Exchanges, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,191 to Mayuzumi et al., entitled Method And Apparatus For Reproducing Operation Guidance Information And Method And Apparatus For Reproducing Multi-Media Information.